The present invention relates to communication systems. More specifically, the present invention relates to the dynamic allocation of communication resources within a communication system.
Currently, communication systems, such as customer call centers, require the ability to route and service calls between different call centers which may be located in different geographical regions. For instance, if a receiving call center is unable to service a call, the receiving call center necessarily requires the ability to route the call to another call center capable of servicing the call. Currently, present communication systems utilize dedicated point-to-point communication links for interconnecting different call centers within a multiple call center system. The dedicated point-to-point communication links provide the medium for servicing and routing calls within the typical multiple call center system. For instance, in interconnected Automatic Call Distributor (ACD) systems and Public Branch Exchange (PBX) systems dedicated point-to-point communication links are utilized for routing a particular call or inquiry to other ACDs or PBXs within the system which are qualified to handle the call.
A typical communication system 100 is illustrated in FIG. 1, wherein each call center or ACD 105 within the communication system 100 maintains a dedicated point-to-point communication link 110 with each of the other call centers 105 within the system 100. The dedicated point-to-point communication links 110 within the communication system 100 allow for communication or data transfer between one call center 105 and another call center 105. The typical communication system may contain many different call centers which are interconnected through a series different dedicated point-to-point communication links. The communication system 100, illustrated in FIG. 1, contains four separate call centers 105 which are interconnected through a series of six different dedicated point-to-point communication links 110 in order to provide full connectivity between each of the different call centers 105. Typically, each of these dedicated communication links 110 are implemented through a public network, which necessarily results in high utilization/operation costs. Accordingly, as a result of the high costs associated with dedicated communication links, some of the lesser utilized communication links between call centers may be omitted or removed from the system in order to reduce operating costs. Consequently, due to the removal of lesser utilized communication links, the overall ability to route calls to an appropriate call center within the system is diminished as the connectivity between each of the different call centers is constrained.
Each of the call centers within a typical communication system have a specified number of dedicated point-to-point communication links capable of handling a specified number of calls. Further, each of the communication links contain a fixed number of channels or connections, wherein each connection is configured to support a single call. For instance, as illustrated in FIG. 1, the New York call center 105 has three associated dedicated point-to-point communication links 110 which are connected to three different geographical call centers 105 (Los Angeles, Atlanta, and San Jose). Each of the dedicated point-to-point communication links 110 have a certain number of connections associated with each individual communication link 110, with each connection having the ability to handle or service a single call. For instance, the New York-San Jose communication link 110 may have five (5) connections, the New York-Los Angeles communication link 110 may have ten (10) connections, and the New York-Atlanta communication link 110 may have five (5) connections. Ideally, the communication links 110 between the different call centers 105 contain sufficient bandwidth or capacity (i.e.: connections) to manage traffic usage which occurs between different call centers 105.
During peak traffic, however, the amount of incoming calls in need of servicing may exceed the amount of connections within a communication link. For instance, in the above example, the New York-San Jose communication link 110 has five (5) connections, however, if a sixth call or connection between New York and San Jose call centers 105 is necessary, the sixth call would have to wait until one of the five (5) connections between New York and San Jose became available, even if the other fifteen (15) connections associated with the New York call center 105 were available. Therefore, even though the New York call center 105 has a total of twenty (20) available connections [New York-San Jose (5), New York-Los Angeles (10), and New York-Atlanta (5)], the system cannot dynamically allocate an additional connection, to handle the sixth call, from any of the other fifteen (15) available connections [New York-Los Angeles (10) and New York-Atlanta (5)] within the system 100. Therefore, the individual connections within the each of the respective communication links 110 between call centers 105 can not be dynamically allocated to handle unforeseen peak traffic between any two given call center sites.
Moreover, current communication systems, like the system in the present example, also have increased cost factors associated with the expansion of system capacity and capability. As the number of call centers within the system increases, the required dedicated point-to-point communication links necessary for proper connectivity between the call centers increases exponentially. For instance, in the example of FIG. 1, the system 100 is comprised of four separate call centers 105 that are interconnected through a series of six different dedicated point-to-point communication links 110 providing full connectivity between each of the different call centers 105. However, if an additional call center 115 (fifth call center) were added into the communication system 100, an additional four dedicated point-to-point communication links 120 would be needed, in addition to the six dedicated point-to-point communication links 110 already in the system 100, in order to provide full connectivity between each of the five different call centers. Therefore, as the need to expand system capabilities increases, the required dedicated point-to-point communication links necessary for proper connectivity between the call centers increases exponentially.
It is therefore desirable to provide a communication system having multiple call centers, wherein each call center utilizes a communication link capable of exchanging information and data with any or all associated call centers within the system. Further, it is desirable to provide a communication system wherein the communication links may be configured to dynamically allocate channels or connections, within each communication link, in order to handle different data, and varying data loads, which are transmitted to a variety of different designated call centers within the system.
The present invention is directed to a communication system comprising a first communication device configured to receive an audio based transaction, wherein the first communication device supplies formatted transaction data to a network through an associated communication link. Additionally, mutliple alternate communication devices are coupled to the network through respective communication links associated with each of the alternate communication devices. At least one alternate communication device is configured to receive the formatted transaction data from the network through the associated respective communication link.
In an alternate embodiment, the communication system incorporates a system control device which controls the amount of data entering the network from each of the respective communication devices coupled to the network.